Discrimination Complaint Log Evaluation Phase I

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Discrimination Complaint Log EvaluationPhase I

• Pir Ahmad
• USDOL - Civil Rights Center

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Scope of Analysis

• A Three year longitudinal study
• Purpose An informational tool to assist the
  Civil Rights Center with its compliance
  assistance efforts and monitoring activities. To
  provide feedback to the State Workforce Agencies
  and their recipients and USDOL-operated Job Corps
  Centers.

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Scope of Analysis

• Examine the complaint activity of recipients
  nationwide under Title I WIA, Wagner-Peyser,
  Unemployment Insurance, and against
  USDOL-operated Job Corps Centers
• Demographic analysis of the population filing
  complaints of discrimination, along with the
  bases and issues of complaints

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Scope of Analysis

• Identifying and examining the complaint activity
  related to and from persons with disabilities
• Conducting process-based evaluations into the
  complaint processing procedures
• Developing performance measures
• Trend Analysis

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Phase I

• Data Submission
• State Workforce Agencies and Their Recipients
• USDOL-operated Job Corps Centers
• Complaint Activity
• Complaint Filers
• Persons with Disabilities

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Phase I

• Complaint Processing Performance
• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Complaint Outcomes
• Non-jurisdictional Complaints
• Recap

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Regional Distribution

• Midwest Region Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa,
  Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,
  Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota,
  and Texas
• Southeast Region Alabama, District of Columbia,
  Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi,
  North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina,
  Tennessee, U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, and
  West Virginia
• West Region Alaska, Arizona, California,
  Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New
  Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming
• Northeast Region Connecticut, Delaware, Maine,
  Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New
  Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode
  Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin

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I. Data Submission

• State Workforce Agencies and Their Recipients
• USDOL-operated Job Corps Centers

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Data Submission

• Program Demographic Data
• Challenges encountered A number of State
  Workforce Agencies experienced problems with
  aggregation and allocation of multiple race
  responses of program participants.
• Data inadequacies Especially for UI data,
  precluded the inclusion of program demographic
  data in this phase of the study

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State Workforce Agencies FY03 Complaint Log
Submission
Midwest Southeast West Northeast Total
Number of States in Region 13 14 13 13 53
Number of States Submitting Complaints 10 14 12 8 44
Total, Complaints Submitted 397 252 152 80 881
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USDOL-operated Job Corps Centers
Midwest Southeast West Northeast U.S. Totals
Job Corps Centers 22 28 21 24 95
Centers Submitting Complaints 11 16 10 13 50
Total Complaints Submitted 81 110 39 100 330
Student Population 23,210 29,776 20,427 21,562 94,975
Number of Complaints/1,000 Students 3.49 3.69 1.91 4.64 3.47
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II. Complaint Activity

• Complaint Filers
• Persons with Disabilities

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Complaint Filers
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Persons with Disabilities

• Filed 137 complaints alleging discrimination
• Disabled employees of State Workforce Agencies
  accounted for 56 of all disability complaints
• Disability complaints occurred most often in the
  Midwest accounting for 41
• Job Corps received only four complaints alleging
  discrimination on the bases of disability

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III. Complaint Processing Performance

• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Complaint Outcomes
• Non-jurisdictional Complaints

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Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

• In FY03 ADR utilization ranged from a low of 3
  of complaints in the Midwest to a high of 9 in
  the West.
• 57 complaints were resolved utilizing an ADR
  process
• ADR participation rates
• WIA participants 13
• Employees 6
• Customers 5

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Complaint Outcomes
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Non-Jurisdictional Complaints

• 453 complaints or 37 of all FY03 complaints
  classified as non-jurisdictional
• Majority filed under the bases of sex, race, and
  disability
• Over half of the complaints classified as
  non-jurisdictional were filed by employees
• 45 of all complaints alleging discrimination on
  the bases of disability were classified as
  non-jurisdictional

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Recap

• Nationwide 1,211 complaints alleging
  discrimination were filed in FY03
• Employees filed 551 complaints or 45 of all
  complaints. On the bases of sex, predominately
  female, and race, mostly Black. 43 of these
  complaints were classified as non-jurisdictional.

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Recap - continue

• Job Corps students filed 190 complaints alleging
  discrimination, with 117 or 62 being filed by
  female students. The main issue harassment,
  whether sexual or verbal, or simply living in a
  hostile environment.
• Female students were five times as likely to file
  a complaint alleging sexual harassment than their
  male counterpart.

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Recap - continue

• Persons with disabilities filed 137 complaints,
  accounting for 11 of all complaints filed in
  FY03.
• Disabled employees of State Workforce Agencies
  and their local areas filed 56 of all disability
  discrimination complaints.
• Complaint issues wrongful termination and
  failure to provide reasonable accommodation.

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Recap - continue

• ADR utilization ranged from a low of 3 to a high
  of 9 of all complaints filed in FY03.
• WIA participants had the highest ADR
  participation rates at 13.
• Complaint Processing Times
• Average 29 days

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Recap

• High incidence of classifying discrimination
  complaints as non-jurisdictional 37
• Midwest Region 60
• Majority of these complaints were filed by
  employees, under the prohibited bases of sex,
  race, and disability.